Metro Vancouver officials are expected to make a pitch to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to save local and community programming, arguing they need a public channel to stay in touch and inform the region’s residents about civic affairs. Regional officials are slated to present the submission to the CRTC on Feb. 2, as part of a public hearing into a review of the commission’s policy framework for local and community television programming. Their main concern is that the portion of a levy currently allocated to the development of community programming — about two per cent of a cable bill — could be reallocated to local, commercial television stations and result in the demise of the Shaw Channel 4.

Related

Metro Vancouver officials are expected to make a pitch to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to save local and community programming, arguing they need a public channel to stay in touch and inform the region’s residents about civic affairs.

Regional officials are slated to present the submission to the CRTC on Feb. 2, as part of a public hearing into a review of the commission’s policy framework for local and community television programming. Their main concern is that the portion of a levy currently allocated to the development of community programming — about two per cent of a cable bill — could be reallocated to local, commercial television stations and result in the demise of the Shaw Channel 4.

Metro Vancouver, which represents 21 municipalities as well as an electoral area and the Tsawwassen First Nation, now runs at least two shows on that channel, including the Sustainable Region newsmagazine show and Metro Vancouver Close-up, which highlights work done at the municipal level to support regional goals.

In the past, Shaw brought in volunteers to record municipal city council meetings. If the channel is cut, it would mean those meetings could only be watched online.

“Metro Vancouver and others produce the content for them, but they at least give us air time,” said Greg Moore, Port Coquitlam mayor and chairman of Metro Vancouver. “Putting up content on YouTube is not the same as putting it up on Shaw Channel 4. (People) are not able to watch a half-hour show on YouTube on their computers. It doesn’t produce the same visibility as TV.”

The submission, which will go to Metro’s intergovernmental and finance committee Friday, argues that television remains a complementary medium to the Internet. And while putting material online is easy, it is tough to get it seen.

Regional officials suggest that building an online audience requires hard work, costs money, and individual community members will have little success building or reaching audiences. It also notes television continues to have a higher daily reach, and some people don’t even have access to a computer. Moore noted while Vancouver issues often get attention from the mainstream media, small communities like his need other outlets to reach the community.

“Our concern is that in its desire to assist the private sector in dealing with the challenges of a changing marketplace, the CRTC will rob Peter to pay Paul,” the submission states. “The emphasis in the discussion paper seems to favour private broadcasters as producers of local content over community access providers such as us. We believe that both play very different but complementary roles.”

Funding for the broadcast system comes through a mix of taxes, advertising revenues, and through a levy of five per cent on consumer’s cable bills — three per cent of this levy goes to the Canadian Television Fund and two per cent remains with the cable provider, to be spent on community television production. Nationally, this amounts to about $151 million annually, according to Metro’s submission.

The submission maintains the review poses a “serious threat” to community access in Canada, noting in the past the community channel had given many people their first exposure to a local band or artist, call-in access to local mayors, or see smaller stories that commercial broadcasters would not cover. The region argues CRTC policy has allowed the cable provider to consolidate its operations, not meet its community obligations, or required accountability for the two per cent of the cable bill that is supposed to go to community programming.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified Port Coquitlam mayor Greg Moore, as mayor of Port Moody.

===

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Video

Today's News

Best of Postmedia

To steel himself for the year-long journey that began Wednesday, Jonathan Pitre has been going over the hard calculus that underpins his decision to pursue a high-risk, high-reward treatment in Minnesota

When he woke up in tears the morning after he had cried himself to sleep, Rohit Saxena knew what he had to do. Leaving his wife, Lesley, asleep in bed, Rohit went downstairs, opened his laptop and began to write. “They say your kids are your hearts outside your body,” he wrote. “I’ll always be […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.